Awards and Recogniton: KWF Congratulates Our Fellows

Updated June 26, 2014

Association for Communication in Excellence

Vince Patton ’04, a producer for OPB’s long-running local production Oregon Field Guide, has been named a recipient of the Reuben Brigham Award from the The Association For Communication Excellence (ACE) In Agriculture Natural Resources, And Life And Human Sciences.The award is the highest honor that ACE presents to non-members. It is awarded to an individual who has greatly contributed to communication in agriculture, natural resources, and life and human sciences. Patton was recognized for his excellence in producing meaningful stories about regional environmental issues, including Wild Horses in Crisis, Grebes Walk on Water, and Diving for Science.

National Press Club Award

Molly Ball ’10
won the
Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis for her coverage of the Republican Party’s internal struggles after the 2012 elections. The judges said her work was in the best tradition of Lee Walczak, who spearheaded political coverage at Bloomberg and at Business Week magazine for over 20 years. Ball covers national politics for The Atlantic.

Sigma Delta Chi Award

Jonathan Martin ’09 won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for editorial writing about Washington state’s marijuana legalization process. The Seattle Times was the first metropolitan newspaper to endorse the legalization of marijuana in a February 2011 editorial. Martin came to the issue of marijuana as a reporter covering issues around marijuana and in a 2011 news story, he showed how easy it was to get a medical authorization for using marijuana at Hempfest. He joined the Times editorial page early in 2013.

Hall of Fame Induction

Phillip Morris '12, was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame for 2011. Morris has won a National Association of Black Jouralists award and a National Headliner Award. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.

James Beard Foundation Award

Seattle Times reporter Maureen O'Hagan '00, won a James Beard Foundation Award for her series on childhood obesity. "Feeling the Weight: The Emotional Battle to Control Kids' Diets" won in the health and well-being catagory.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Society of Professional Journalists, Detroit chapter recognized Charles Eisendrath '75 with a Lifetime Achievement Award on April 6, 2011. Jack Lessenberry presented the award while KWF fellows and friends were on hand to congratulate Charles on his achievement.

2010 Pulitzer Prize

Jonathan Martin ’09, Maureen O’Hagan ’00 and Nick Perry ’11 were part of the Seattle Times team that took the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting. The winning series covered, in print and online, the shooting deaths of four police officers and the manhunt for the suspect.

Allison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activisim

Human Rights Watch honored Elena Milashina ’10 with the Alison Des Forges Award for ExtraordinaryActivism in both 2009 and 2010. The award celebrates individuals who risk their lives to protect the dignity and lives of others. Milashina, an investigative reporter for Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s leading independent newspaper, was recognized for her work exposing human rights abuses and government corruption.

Golden Nymph Award

Stephanie DeGroote ’09 was a producer on the Sky News team that collected two Golden Nymph Awards at the Monte Carlo TV Festival. The channel won the Best TV News Item award for their account of Gaddafi’s troops firing on unarmed protesting civilians in the town of Zawiyah. A second Golden Nymph was awarded to DeGroote’s team for Best 24 Hour News Programme for the coverage of the Egyptian uprising in March.

C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for Distingished Newspaper Reporting

Jonathan Martin ’09 also won the 2011 C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for Distinguished Newspaper Reporting. Martin and Ken Armstrong took first place in enterprise reporting for "The Other Side of Mercy," a Seattle Times series on the fatal shootings of four Lakewood police officers in 2009.

Edgar Allan Poe Awards

Congratulations to Nick Perry ’11 and his co-author Ken Armstrong. Their book, “Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity” was named the winner of the Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Fact Crime book of 2010.

Bruce DeSilva ’81 first novel, “Rogue Island” was awarded the Edgar Award for best first novel 2011 and the Macavity Award for best debut crime novel 2011. His book was also shortlisted for the Anthony and Barry award and listed as one of the ten most notable first novels of the year by Publishers Weekly.

Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism

John Fountain ’00 received the Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism for columns he published in the Chicago Sun-Times during 2010. The Chicago Headline Club, the largest chapter of Society of Professional Journalists, acknowledged Fountain’s columns on homicide including the column “Open Letters to Young Black Men: A Plea for Life.”

Eugene S. Pullman National Journalism Writing Award

Maureen O’Hagan ’00 also won Ball State University’s 2009 Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award in April 2009. O’Hagan received the honor for her Seattle Times article “Aging Father Agonizes Over Fate of His Son,” part of a series entitled “A Lifetime of Care." This year, O'Hagan received second place in the feature-writing catagory of the C. B. Blethen Award for Distinguished Newspaper Reporting for the same series.

2009 Pulitzer Prize

David Ashenfelter ‘92 - and the staff of Detroit Free Press were awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for two officials.

Excellence in Feature Writing

Colleen Kenney ’08 of the Lincoln Journal Star won four awards in the 2009 Excellence in Feature Writing contest of the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors. She took first place in A&E Reporting, both first and second place for Short Feature and third place for Feature Specialty Reporting.

Mary Garber Pioneer Award

Linda Robertson ’07, of The Miami Herald, received the 2009 Mary Garber Pioneer Award by the Association for Women in Sports Media. The award recognizes those who have paved the way and served as role models for women in sports media.

2008 Puliter Prize

Alec MacGillis ’11 – was part of The Washington Post team that received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for its exceptional, multi-faceted coverage of the deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, telling the developing story in print and online.

2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist

Joseph Mallia ’00 was one of four lead reporters on a Newsday project recognized as a 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist in the public service category. The project, which focused on the gap between New York’s trains and its boarding platforms, also won a 2007 Investigative Reporters and Editors Certificate and was a finalist for the 2008 Deadline Club’s Daniel Pearl Award for Investigative Reporting.

Emmy Award, Barry Edmonds Award and Best of Photojournalism

Kathleen Galligan ’09 received numerous awards, including local and national Emmys, for her Detroit Free Press multimedia project about troubled foster children at Detroit’s Christ Child House. Besides the Emmys, she garnered the 2008 Barry Edmonds Michigan Understanding Award from the Michigan Press Photographers and Best of Photojournalism award from the National Press Photographers. Add to those, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ 2009 Adoption Excellence Award, Michigan Press Association first place picture category award, Michigan Associated Press first place writing award and the National Headliners third place for writing.

Society of Professional Journalists Awards

Eve Byron ’99 was a part of two Helena Independent Record teams that won 2008 Society of Professional Journalists Region 10 awards. Byron was special projects editor and a writer for “Big Sky, Big Border,” which won first place for multiple day comprehensive coverage. She was also the primary author for “Asarco – The End of An Era,” which took third place for single day comprehensive coverage. In addition, Byron won first place in the 2007 Montana Newspaper Association Awards for outdoors reporting for daily newspapers with a distribution of 7,500 and up.

Osborn Elliott Prize got Excellence in Journalism

Mark McDonald ’97 received the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia from The Asia Society. McDonald and three fellow correspondents were acknowledged for their coverage of Cyclone Nargis and its aftermath in Burma/ Myanmar.

Florida Book Award

Cynthia Barnett ’05 received the gold medal for nonfiction in the Florida Book Awards for “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.” Barnett is a staff writer for Florida Trend magazine

National Headliners Award

Jamie Butters ’06 headed up a Detroit Free Press team that won a 2008 National Headliners Award for “A New U.S. Auto Industry.” The special section, which examined the end of the UAW strike against General Motors, took second place for Writing & Reporting Spot News in the daily newspapers and news syndicates category and also won a Society of Business Editors and Writers award for breaking news coverage.

2008 Pulitzer Prize and 2007 George Polk Award

Mike O’Neal ’04 and Livingston Award winner Evan Osnos were part of a Chicago Tribune team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for the series “Hidden Hazards.” The series, about the federal government’s failure to regulate manufacturers of many children’s products, also won second place in the 2008 National Headliners Awards in the public service category and a 2007 George Polk Award for Consumer Reporting.age.

Best of Cox Award

Scott Elliott ’05 won a Best of Cox 2008 award for his blog, “Get on the Bus,” while reporting for the Dayton Daily News. Elliott is now the education reform reporter for the Indianapolis Star.

Golden Apple Award

John U. Bacon ’06 was presented with the 2009 Golden Apple Award from the University of Michigan for his work as a lecturer in American Culture. The award is given annually; the recipient chosen by U-M students.

Nathaniel Nash Award

Micki Maynard ’00, a senior correspondent for New York Times’ Business Day, won the 11th annual Nathaniel Nash Award. The award is given to a Times correspondent or reporter “who excels in business or economic news, nationally or abroad.”